Silver Springs–Too Cold to Kayak

January 15-29, 2026                                             Most Recent Posts:
Silver Springs State Park                  Back to Where It’s Warmer: 2026 Begins
Site #5                                                                         Happy Holidays
Silver Springs Florida

I neglected to mention in my last post that 2026 marks my 15th year on the road.
It sure doesn’t seem that long.  It’s not as much fun without David.  I’d love to have someone to caravan with.  But I don’t know what else I’d do with myself if I didn’t chase 70 degrees around so I can be outside kayaking and hiking.   Anyone who’d like to meet up to caravan do let me know.

On January 15, I moved to Silver Springs State Park with dream of kayaking the Silver River an expectation actually.  But it was a week before I could get on the river.  The day I arrived the low was TWENTY EIGHT degrees.

 

First I had hot water heater troubles.  I had no hot water. Not fun when it’s this cold.  Andy came out and replaced some pipe but that wasn’t the whole problem so he had to order parts and come back.  $500 later flushed and with a new check valve it was fixed.   It’s the labor cost, not the parts, that the killer.

Still the weather just wasn’t cooperating.  Too cold or too windy.  Or usually too cold AND too windy.  I was able to do some hiking despite the weather.  Happily, the trees block the wind.

But before I could get out on the trails I had to drive back across the state to pick up some medicine that was delayed in reaching me at Gamble Rogers.   They had promised the 13th but of course it arrived the 16th, the day after I left.  Thank goodness I was only 2 hours away and not 6 or 8.   Still it took the whole day to go over and back.  

I took that opportunity to have breakfast at Friends Restaurant a seriously local favorite in Flagler Beach.  I thought I might spend some time on the beach but just as I finished breakfast it started raining.  It was cold and windy.  Started sleeting.  Little ice balls on the windshield.  So much for the walking the beach idea.   Is this really Florida?   It rained the entire trip back.

The restaurant is very small and was jam packed the entire time I was there.  I had to sit at the bar.  I had a great mushroom and swiss omelet with excellent home fries and an english muffin.  Of course I was too busy eating it to remember to get its picture.   I will definitely come back next time I’m at Gamble Rogers.

It continued to be too cold for kayaking for 6 days after I arrived at Silver Springs.

So I went hiking.

In the picture below, the high road to the left goes to the school programs dock where they pick up the county boat that takes them up the Silver River educating them about its importance in their lives.    The low road to the right goes down to the river boat launch where I eventually do get to go kayaking.

I take the low road and cross the swamp.

Central Florida is in a serious drought and the swamp is dry.  The cypress knees stand on dry ground.   This picture should be filled with water.

When the education boat arrives, the big gate opens to board the kids.  I just enjoy the river views and no noisy kids.

This picture was taken on a different day from the same spot but I really love it.

Back across the boardwalk where a few years ago I was surprised by a couple of monkeys from one of the troops that live in the area.   Too close for comfort to suit me.

Another educational feature of the campground area is the Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center.   It is only open to the public, including campers, on Saturday and Sunday.   It is free to walk around and $2 for a tour.  The grounds consist of the museum educational building and the pioneer Cracker Village which is a collection of buildings that portray life on the Florida frontier. 

When I hear the word frontier I always think of it as being out west but after reading some Florida history this place was every bit as wild.  I recommend Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen.   This is a seriously great book about the infamous Edgar Watson.  So good it won the National Book Award and I read it twice.   Also A Land Remembered by Patrick D Smith more specifically about the Cracker Settlers whose lives are remembered here.  Both are excellent historical fiction.

The structures typical of the 1800’s Cracker Community include several cabins, a one-room schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, sugar cane mill and syrup kettle, wood-fired pottery kiln and a replica Seminole Indian camp.   They offer tours on the 2nd and 4th Saturday mornings.  The $2 price is amazing.

I’ve done the tour in years past but it’s been a while and I would have done it again but this was the 3rd week end.   Actually I walked in to the village on a Monday.  Not sure why the grounds were open on this Monday but I took advantage to walk around.

This year they have a new trail map which shows they have redone the trails.  I find it a bit more difficult than in the past.   The real test will be to see how difficult it is to hike from the state park over to the head springs area where the kayak rentals and glass bottom boats are.  But I didn’t have time to try that on this trip.

I did try out what they are now calling the Flat Woods Loop Tail a section of which runs by the campground loops.

AND THEN FINALLY, I had 5 river days in a row before I had to pack it up and move on down the road.    I was going to add the first day of kayaking to this post and leave the others for the next but I’ll just do them all in my next post.  Gators, manatee, monkeys and more coming up next time,  

Back to Where it’s Warmer: 2026 Begins

December 29, 2025-January 16, 2026                         Most Recent Posts:
Fernandina Beach and                                                     Happy Holidays
Flagler Beach, Florida                                                      To Walkabout and Back

I was back at Fort Clinch on December 28th and sorry to have left Carrie and her family in the freezing north but thrilled to be back where it’s warmer.

Pooh and I finished up the 23rd and 24th boxes of the puzzle

And here’s what it looks like.   Such a great idea.  It was fun to do.

I wasted no time getting out to the beach since I only have two more days on this beach for this year.

As you can see people were in swim suits.  All the folks with their heads down are looking for shark’s teeth.  Fort Clinch Atlantic Beach is a well known spot to find them.

Of course there are fishermen too.

That night I saw the sunset over this airstream with its holiday decorations.  It made me smile and think of my friends Mary and Pete who full time in an Airstream.

On my last day I was out for sunrise at dawn and saw this armadillo on my way.

The early color is why I go out at dawn.

It dissipates before sunrise but is still lovely as are its reflections on the sand.

Here comes the sun.

Later, I came out to the beach again and was able to catch the sun just setting over the dunes.  My last shot from Fernandina Beach for 2025.

And on I go.  Starting the new year by moving to Gamble Roger’s State Park in Flagler Beach Florida on January 1st.   Great way to begin a new year. 

I arrived in the later afternoon and was setting up when I saw the nearly full moon in the sky.  

I walked over to catch the sunset at the boat dock and then walked out to get a picture of the park sign as the sunset skies still had some color.

Walking back these were the skies behind the campground.

           Behind Winnona

The beach at Fort Clinch is at the northernmost tip of Amelia Island.  About 90 miles  north of the Gamble Rogers beach on a barrier island.  There is always something wonderful to see at the beach.   And all beaches are different.

The beach here is perhaps wider than that at Fort Clinch but it has no dune system since highway A1A runs right beside it.  Great for views, if you are traveling down the coast but no protection for the town or the road in hurricanes.

I spent my first week pretty much walking the beach, going out for the sunrise and sunset, reading and wishing the wind would back off so I could go kayaking in the great upper 60’s low 70’s temperatures.  On January 10th the high was EIGHTY ONE DEGREES.  Just why I come to Florida for the winter.   As everyone knows, things changed in mid January but that was at my next stop.

Here are a couple of the books I was reading.  Those who follow know I’m a Georgia O’Keeffe fan and have read many, seriously many, books about her life and art.  Not sure how many are on my bookshelf now but at least 20.  I have to say this one is my least favorite and I would not recommend it.  I liked it at the beginning it was humorous but then I felt the author went off the rails trying too hard and with what seemed to me to be too many speculations. 

Winter Counts is a book sent to me by the Books Inside Boxes a literary subscription travel book club I joined.  I really love it as it is a small operation, run by one woman and she will change my address every month and send me the book where I am.  It’s a travel book club in that each month is a book about a different state, set in that state or by an author from that state.  The book box also contains “goodies” that come from small often female owned businesses in that state.  The books come from independent book stores in that state.  I just love her whole ethic and want to support her and these small businesses.

I very much enjoyed Winter Counts a mystery/thriller written by a member of the Rosebud Lakota.  The protagonist is a Lakota from the Rosebud reservation where most of the plot takes place.  I’m not normally one who reads “thrillers”, they make me too nervous, but this one was very well done and the insight into contemporary reservation life, history and spirituality put this book a step above.  I might never have read this had Karen not chosen it for the January read.  There is a group on line discussion of it tonight but I’m going to post this before that happens.  I recommend both the book and Books Inside Boxes if you like to be surprised by books in the mail.

For now the  beach wasn’t crowded, the waves and the skies were beautiful.

I did a double take when I saw these White Ibis wading in the salt water ocean.  I’ve seen plenty of them in the rivers but never at the beach. 

The path from the campground to the beach begins in the maritime forest and is a favorite hike of mine

Look closely on the branch over the trail and you can see the resurrection ferns have gotten enough moisture to resurrect themselves from the gray brittle dead looking things to beautiful healthy green.  It’s amazing!

Such a nice trail.

There is another shorter trail that I take to my sunset viewing spot.  This was actually taken on my way back which is why it is fairly dark.

Sunset over the Matanzas River part of the inland waterway.

The Matanzas runs  behind the campsites on the side where Winnona and I are.  The skies are often very colorful about 45 minutes after sunset though you can only see the water from here in certain spots.

When I got back on this night I was surprised to see what had moved in next to me in the couple of hours I’d been gone.

The next day I found out they were Indian Princesses and their dads.  The Indian Princesses and Indian Guides are a father/daughter/son  historically YMCA program.  They foster relationships between fathers and daughters through camping, crafts, and community events, often utilizing Native American-themed imagery.  I read that “Due to concerns over cultural appropriation, many such programs have rebranded to "Adventure Guides” but apparently not this group.

They told me they had about a dozen sites in the campground and this one was their gathering spot.  The only time I really saw them was when the fathers were cooking and they were eating.  Though they did hang around until fairly late after their dinner and the campfire was right next to my bedroom.   They came in and set up on Friday around sunset and left on Sunday.

These guys were amazingly well organized setting up and taking down this entire operation.  They had obviously done it many times.

Not sure it would have been warm enough for me to go kite surfing on January 13th but this guy was out and I enjoyed watching him.  He was in the water several times and then back out.  At least someone was enjoying the wind that was keeping me out of my kayak.

My last night I went to Rocky’s Pizzeria for one of the only places I can get anchovies on my pizza.  Took a few pictures while I waited for my take out but once back home I totally forgot to take a picture of the pizza which was delicious.   I like having Rocky’s to take with me so on my first night at my next stop I don’t have to cook!!  Yeah leftovers!!

Love this wisdom.

Rocky himself

My next post will round out January and I will effectively be in real time.  Or at least I hope I will.   Wonder if I can stay that way.